Misquoting Jesus

When world-class biblical scholar Bart Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had been made by earlier translators. In Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman tells the story behind the mistakes and changes that ancient scribes made to the New Testament and shows the great impact they had upon the Bible we use today.

Forged: Writing in the Name of God - Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are

It is often said, even by critical scholars who should know better, that “writing in the name of another” was widely accepted in antiquity. But New York Times bestselling author Bart D. Ehrman dares to call it what it was: literary forgery, a practice that was as scandalous then as itis today. In Forged, Ehrman’s fresh and original research takes readers back to the ancient world, where forgeries were used as weapons by unknown authors to fend off attacks to their faith and establish their church.

How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee

In a book that took eight years to research and write, leading Bible scholar Bart D. Ehrman explores how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee crucified for crimes against the state came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty Creator of all things. Ehrman sketches Jesus's transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus's followers had visions of him after his death - alive again - did anyone come to think that he, the prophet from Galilee, had become God.

Jesus Before the Gospels: How the Earliest Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented Their Stories of the Savior

Throughout much of human history, our most important stories were passed down orally - including the stories about Jesus before they became written down in the Gospels. In this fascinating and deeply researched work, leading Bible scholar Bart D. Erhman investigates the role oral history has played in the New Testament - how the telling of these stories not only spread Jesus' message but helped shape it.

Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth

Large numbers of atheists, humanists, and conspiracy theorists are raising one of the most pressing questions in the history of religion: "Did Jesus exist at all?" Was he invented out of whole cloth for nefarious purposes by those seeking to control the masses? Or was Jesus such a shadowy figure - far removed from any credible historical evidence - that he bears no meaningful resemblance to the person described in the Bible? In Did Jesus Exist? historian and Bible expert Bart Ehrman confronts these questions, vigorously defends the historicity of Jesus, and provides a compelling portrait of the man from Nazareth.

Lost Christianities: The Battles of Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew

The early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. Some groups of Christians claimed that there was not one God but two or twelve or thirty. Some believed that the world had not been created by God but by a lesser, ignorant deity. Certain sects maintained that Jesus was human but not divine, while others said he was divine but not human.

The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot: A New Look at the Betrayer and Betrayed

Lost for nearly 1,700 years, newly restored and authenticated, the Gospel of Judas presents a very different view of the relationship between Jesus and Judas. Rather than paint Judas as a traitor, it portrays him as acting at Jesus' request.

The Case Against the Case for Christ: A New Testament Scholar Refutes the Reverend Lee Strobel

Leading New Testament scholar Robert M. Price has taken umbrage at the cavalier manner in which Rev. Lee Strobel has misrepresented the field of Bible scholarship in his book The Case for Christ. Price exposes and refutes Strobel's arguments chapter-by-chapter. In doing so, he has occasion to wipe out the entire field of Christian apologetics as summarized by Strobel. This book is a must-read for anyone bewildered by the various books published by Rev. Strobel.

Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend

Bart Ehrman, author of the best sellers Misquoting Jesus and Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code, here takes listeners on another engaging tour of the early Christian church, illuminating the lives of three of Jesus' most intriguing followers: Simon Peter, Paul of Tarsus, and Mary Magdalene.

Why I Am Not a Christian: Four Conclusive Reasons to Reject the Faith

Dr. Richard Carrier, world-renowned philosopher and historian, explains the four reasons he does not accept the Christian religion, describing four facts of the world that, had they been different, he would believe. Those four reasons are God's silence, God's inaction, the lack of evidence, and the way the universe looks exactly like a godless universe would, and not at all like a Christian universe would, even down to its very structure. Dr. Carrier addresses all the usual replies to these claims.

The New Testament

Whether taken as a book of faith or a cultural artifact, the New Testament is among the most significant writings the world has ever known, its web of meaning relied upon by virtually every major writer in the last 2,000 years. Yet the New Testament is not only one of Western civilization’s most believed books, but also one of its most widely disputed, often maligned, and least clearly understood, with a vast number of people unaware of how it was written and transmitted.

Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics

"Arguably the most distinctive feature of the early Christian literature," writes Bart Ehrman, "is the degree to which it was forged." The Homilies and Recognitions of Clement; Paul's letters to and from Seneca; Gospels by Peter, Thomas, and Philip; Jesus' correspondence with Abgar, letters by Peter and Paul in the New Testament - all forgeries. To cite just a few examples.

Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists

Part 1 of Godless, "Rejecting God", tells the story of how I moved from devout preacher to atheist and beyond. Part 2, "Why I Am an Atheist", presents my philosophical reasons for unbelief. Part 3, "What's Wrong with Christianity", critiques the bible (its reliability as well as its morality) and the historical evidence for Jesus. Part 4, "Life Is Good!", comes back to my personal story, taking a case to the United States Supreme Court, dealing with personal trauma, and experiencing the excitement of Adventures in Atheism.

Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism

Religious fundamentalists and biblical literalists present any number of arguments that attempt to disprove evolution. Those with a sympathetic ear often fail to critically examine these creationist claims, leading to an ill-informed public and, perhaps more troubling, ill-advised public policy. As Aron Ra makes clear, however, every single argument deployed by creationists in their attacks on evolution is founded on fundamental scientific, religious, and historical falsehoods - all of them.

Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity: Revised & Expanded

In this honest appraisal of his journey from believer to atheist, the author carefully explains the experiences and the reasoning process that led him to reject religious belief. The original edition of this book was published in 2006 and reissued in 2008. Since that time, Loftus has received a good deal of critical feedback from Christians and skeptics alike. In this revised and expanded edition, the author addresses criticisms of the original, adds new argumentation and references, and refines his presentation.

The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans, and Heretics

Who is Satan in the New Testament, and what is the evil that he represents? In this groundbreaking book, Elaine Pagels, Princeton's distinguished historian of religion, traces the evolution of Satan from its origins in the Hebrew Bible, where Satan is at first merely obstructive, to the New Testament, where Satan becomes the Prince of Darkness, the bitter enemy of God and man, evil incarnate. In The Origin of Satan, Pagels shows that the four Christian gospels tell two very different stories.

Not the Impossible Faith

Written with occasional humor and an easy style, and thoroughly referenced, with many entertaining "gotcha!" moments, Not the Impossible Faith is a must-listen for anyone interested in the origins of Christianity. Richard Carrier, PhD, is an expert in the history of the ancient world and a critic of Christian attempts to distort history in defense of their faith.

On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt

The assumption that Jesus existed as a historical person has occasionally been questioned in the course of the last hundred years or so, but any doubts that have been raised have usually been put to rest in favor of imagining a blend of the historical, the mythical, and the theological in the surviving records of Jesus. Historian and philosopher Richard Carrier reexamines the whole question and finds compelling reasons to suspect the more daring assumption is correct.

Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed at All

Nailed sheds light on ten beloved Christian myths, and, with evidence gathered from historians across the theological spectrum, shows how they point to a Jesus Christ created solely through allegorical alchemy of hope and imagination; a messiah transformed from a purely literary, theological construct into the familiar figure of Jesus - in short, a purely mythic Christ.

God - the Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist

Throughout history, arguments for and against the existence of God have been largely confined to philosophy and theology, while science has sat on the sidelines. Despite the fact that science has revolutionized every aspect of human life and greatly clarified our understanding of the world, somehow the notion has arisen that it has nothing to say about the possibility of a supreme being, which much of humanity worships as the source of all reality.

God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction

Originally conceived as a joint presentation between influential thinker and best-selling author Richard Dawkins and former evangelical preacher Dan Barker, this unique book provides an investigation into what may be the most unpleasant character in all fiction. Barker combs through both the Old and New Testaments (as well as 13 different editions of the "Good Book"), presenting powerful evidence for why Scripture shouldn't govern our everyday lives.

Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible

In his provocative new book, evolutionary biologist Jerry A. Coyne lays out in clear, dispassionate detail why the toolkit of science, based on reason and empirical study, is reliable, while that of religion - including faith, dogma, and revelation - leads to incorrect, untestable, or conflicting conclusions.

Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind

What is it like to be a preacher or rabbi who no longer believes in God? In this expanded and updated edition of their groundbreaking study, Daniel C. Dennett and Linda LaScola comprehensively and sensitively expose an inconvenient truth that religious institutions face in the new transparency of the information age - the phenomenon of clergy who no longer believe what they publicly preach.

Publisher's Summary

Picking up where Bible expert Bart Ehrman's New York Times best seller, Misquoting Jesus, left off, Jesus, Interrupted addresses the larger issue of what the New Testament actually teaches...and it's not what most people think. Here Ehrman reveals what scholars have unearthed:

The authors of the New Testament have diverging views about who Jesus was and how salvation works.

The New Testament contains books that were forged in the names of the apostles by Christian writers who lived decades later.

Jesus, Paul, Matthew, and John all represented fundamentally different religions.

Established Christian doctrines, such as the suffering messiah, the divinity of Jesus, and the trinity were the inventions of still later theologians.

These are not idiosyncratic perspectives of just one modern scholar. As Ehrman skillfully demonstrates, they have been the standard and widespread views of critical scholars across a full spectrum of denominations and traditions. Why is it most people have never heard such things?

This is the book that pastors, educators, and anyone interested in the Bible have been waiting for, a clear and compelling account of the central challenges we face when attempting to reconstruct the life and message of Jesus.

As a Christian believer (albeit open minded) I found this book fascinating. It certainly has caused me to look differently and more deeply and the new testament gospels that we all tend to accept blindly. It has actually deepened (not threatened) my faith. Thank you Prof. Ehrman, I only wish I had taken your classes while at UNC.

I teach "Introduction to the New Testament" in a Public University in North Carolina. This is without a doubt the best introduction to the New Testament that is currently available. The book is accessible but always scholarly. I assume Ehrman has taken his notes from his New Testament class and expanded them into a book, because this is precisely the material one would get in a New Testament class at a University. Evangelicals will find the material challenging, but Ehrman (a former evangelical himself) works hard to show the evidence and answer the objections he knows are coming. I cannot say enough good about this book. Buy it, listen to it, and your understanding of the New Testament will be enhance and possible transformed.

This book seems to fit in between 'Misquoting Jesus' and 'God's Problem'. I didn't find it as intellectually satisfying as 'Misquoting Jesus' and I didn't find it as doctrinally challenging as 'God's Problem'. While I appreciate Ehrman's desire to translate Biblical scholarship for the lay reader, 'Jesus, Interrupted' just seemed over-organized but also underwrought. At his best Ehrman is engaging and challenging. At his worst, Ehrman's prose jumps between pedantic and overly simplistic. His central premise on the need to read the Bible from a historical perspective and not just a doctrinal perspective already had significant purchase in me, so perhaps, I was just hoping 'Jesus, Interrupted' would wow me just a little more.

An incredible book that will let you see what is taught in mainline Seminaries and Divinity schools throughout the western world... much of it you'll probably never learn about in church, even though your pastor knows many of these facts... It's like a seminary in a book and will add a whole new dimension to your reading of the most significant book in the western world. It teaches a critical historic review of the New Testament rather then what most people know which is just a devotional read of the Bible. I first listened to on audible and like it so well bought a couple copies here for me and other more progressive friends.

This is the most approachable critical historical look at Jesus and the New Testament that I've yet read. This book should be mandatory reading for everyone, both believers and non-believers, who holds a strong opinion regarding Christianity. It certainly won't turn a non-believer into a believer. It's unlikely to turn a believer into a non-believer. But it is likely to make both sides take less extreme stances regarding the role of Christianity (especially those of the American Evangelical persuasion) in todays society.

Less academic than Misquoting Jesus, therefore more listenable, this is another Bart D. Ehrman look into the early Christian Faith/Jesus Movement. I learned nothing about the bible from Christian evangelical radio, so I am glad to get another audiobook that is very well informed.
If you want to learn about early Christianity without the proselytizing this book presents an explanation/examination of the famed discrepancies of the gospels; very intriguing.

The book really does have some good information on the historical New Testament. I am taking on faith that Mr. Ehrman is truly the scholar he says he is, and that his historical data does, in fact, reflect the information one would receive at a university when studying the topic. My problem with the material is that the dissemination of this historical information is only about half of the book. The other half is repeating, ad nauseam, the information presented, combined with a rather self-aggrandizing account of the author, his life, and his beliefs (which are also repeated many times). I kept finding myself wanting to shout "you said that already, at least twice, move on!" every 10 minutes or so. He really needed a better editor to cut out all the noise and help him stick to the topic, which would in turn have alleviated some of the need for him to constantly mention that he didn't have the space to go into each topic in more detail.

I debated whether to give this book 4 or 5 stars, I love and admire his work, this volume should really be read as a supplement to Misquoting Jesus, however compared to Misquoting Jesus, this book is less subject focused, i.e it went from a book about textual discripency to biblical history to religious ethics to personal experience. I agree with the sentiment and historical approach to religion, I still wish this volume provide more scholarly and academic information than it does, maybe I am too greedy. I remain the author's most loyal fan and disciple.

Since Christianity is based entirely on the Bible, and the Bible is supposedly the word of God as preached by Christians everywhere, it's about time people take an objective look at the what the Bible actually says. Bart Ehrman, a Bible scholar and seminarian and former self-described believer shows how authors of different books in the New Testament differ on such fundamental issues as the birth and death of Christ that should lead anyone with an open mind to wonder how any such irreconcilable differences could be divinely inspired. The author points out he is not trying to persuade or dissuade anyone regarding Christianity and he does not advocate any view. He merely points out numerous differences between biblical depictions of events and intentions within a historical framework including the authentication of gospel authorship and the politics of the church and followers at the time. This edition is well narrated by Jason Culp who provides just the right emphasis without risk of partiality to one view or another. The only criticism I have with this work is the author's repeating the same examples over and over throughout the book. The book could have been 20% shorter without all the repeated information.

After Ehrman's last book, God's Problem, I was worried that his work had lost its usual rigor and objectivity. I am happy to say that Ehrman is back in Jesus, Interrupted. This is a concise, objective view of how different authors of the New Testament differ on fundamental issues and how we are left to decide for ourselves how to reconcile these discrepancies. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has read the Bible and thinks they really know it well. This book will open your eyes to how little you actually know.

I always feel like an uninformed idiot after reading Bart Ehrman. Yet I am an educated, open minded and well traveled adult. I guess I am almost angry that I've allowed myself to be so easily brainwashed... His easy to read style and depth of information never disappoints.While listening with my headsets on my partner had to deal with sudden explosions of "What!", laughter and slaps to the forehead. It just gets to you that strongly.If you are at all worried about it damaging your faith then listen to the last chapter first. It certainly won't unless you want it to!The reader is perfect. A great voice that one never tires of. I fear if I ever got to meet Mr. Ehrman I'd be shocked to hear his voice!Now that my 15 hours are over I must immediately download another!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

ChrisR

United Kingdom

4/7/13

Overall

"An interesting perspective on an old story"

Erhman is a man of great intellect, a scholar of the highest credentials.

The contents if this book he claims not to be controversial among academics in the field of biblical scholarship, but are certainly controversial to the layman.

His conclusions are certainly controversial - but given the weight if evidence he gives in support they clearly shouldn't be.

A good run-through the work of New Testament history; detailed enough to provide clarity but not in-depth enough for me in some places.

A book that will make you think, maybe not fought to shake the faith of the masses but it will certainly leave you with many questions.

A good audiobook but for me it would have been much better if read by the author.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

P. Hopwood

6/21/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Phew! Should be read in every church"

Hard to argue with Prof. Ehrman's reasoned and carefully presented scholarship. Beautifully clear; a shame that the deeply indoctrinated won't ever appreciate or even consider the questions raised by this

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Report Inappropriate Content

If you find this review inappropriate and think it should be removed from our site, let us know. This report will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.